Webster – The process of switching the village of Webster to a county water supply has been long, arduous and often uncertain. So it was symbolic that even Monday's official transition ceremony involved a momentary setback.

After a series of speeches, Mayor John Cahill and his son went to spin close the valve at the village wellfield, officially ending the debate.

But they tried to spin it the wrong way — clockwise instead of counter-clockwise — and the momentous transition, decades in the making, was postponed another few seconds.

"Righty tighty," someone called out. The Cahills turned the handle in the opposite direction and separated the village from its Irondequoit Bay water source for the first time since 1936.

As recently as the 1970s, 17 towns and villages around Rochester had their own municipal water supplies, Monroe County Water Authority Chief Engineer Richard Metzger said. With Monday's transition in Webster, the entire county (except the city of Rochester) now drinks from the same source.

Cahill and the current village board majority entered office in March in an election that served as a referendum on the question. The previous administration had voted to remain with the status quo.

Former Mayor Peter Elder sued to stop the transition, saying the public hadn't had enough time for input, but a judge dismissed his suit. He is appealing, but the village and MCWA were free to proceed.

"For the village, a significant milestone has been achieved," Cahill said. He cast the change as part of the village's growth from a small farming community to a manufacturing hub and small business nexus.

The village first started providing water to residents in 1909, according to Fred Holley, who is retiring from his position as chief operator of the village system after 26 years on the job.

MCWA workers spent Monday turning about 75 valves to send county water flowing through the former village pipes. The water supply in the village towers will be drawn down gradually, but Metzger said residents will be getting 100 percent county water by next week.

Water rates for residents are increasing by 10 cents per 1,000 gallons. The village still has to decide what to do with its bayfront property now that the wells there are no longer in use.